Ferrara Candy in negotiations to move 300-person headquarters to the Old Post Office

Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune

Ferrara Candy, the maker of Lemonheads, Nerds, and other candies, will move its 300-person corporate headquarters into the Old Post Office from west suburban Oakbrook Terrace.

Ferrara Candy, the maker of Lemonheads, Nerds, and other candies, will move its 300-person corporate headquarters into the Old Post Office from west suburban Oakbrook Terrace. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)

Ferrara Candy, the maker of Nerds and Jujyfruits, is negotiating to move its 300-person corporate headquarters into the Old Post Office from west suburban Oakbrook Terrace.

The candymaker is negotiating a lease in the building at 433 W. Van Buren St., according to a source familiar with the deal.

If the deal is finalized, Ferrara would become the second Chicago-area business with intentions to move employees from the suburbs into the 2.8 million-square-foot Old Post Office, which is undergoing a massive overhaul. In June, Walgreens said it planned to move 1,800 employees to the building, most from its Deerfield headquarters.

Ferrara spokeswoman Sarah Kittel said the corporate relocation to Chicago is set to occur next year. She declined to confirm the location.

“While we have not finalized a lease with any location, we remain impressed by the future vision for the Old Post Office, and believe it would reflect the brand, culture and community we’re building for the next chapter at Ferrara,” she said in an emailed statement.

Earlier this year, Ferrara was negotiating a lease for about 60,000 square feet in a recently completed office building at 625 W. Adams St., according to sources.

A move to the historic Old Post Office building, owned by 601W Cos., would relocate the company roughly 2 miles from its birthplace.

Ferrara Candy started in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood in 1908, selling sugar-coated almonds, a popular Italian wedding treat. Ferrara says it is the third-largest candymaker in the United States, with more than $2 billion in annual sales. The company was acquired last year by Ferrero, the Italian manufacturer of Nutella and Tic Tac candy.

If finalized, the deal would be a win for the city, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

"An iconic Chicago business moving to an iconic Chicago building would mark a major new investment in Chicago's economy," he said.